


Plastic Doesn’t Count

by R_Armchair



Series: Co-Captains: Time Travel Edition [2]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Captain Marvel (2019), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Christmas, F/M, Family Feels, Kissing, Mistletoe, Podfic & Podficced Works, Podfic Length: 10-20 Minutes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-25
Updated: 2019-12-25
Packaged: 2021-02-26 07:15:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21959482
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/R_Armchair/pseuds/R_Armchair
Summary: A little look at how Carol and Steve spent Christmas.A follow up to “Course Correction”
Relationships: Carol Danvers/Steve Rogers
Series: Co-Captains: Time Travel Edition [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1580851
Kudos: 18





	Plastic Doesn’t Count

**Author's Note:**

> For those who want the audio:  
> [ Click here for the mp3 ](https://www.dropbox.com/s/s2qot3d2yo2mnqu/Plasticdoesntcount.mp3?dl=0)

_Beta_ _2022_

Twenty-three years in space had meant no Terran holidays for Carol. She’d practically forgotten how they worked.Eight years predominantly back on Earth, and she still didn’t understand the fuss.Despite this lack of enthusiasm, she’d hitched a ride on the Benatar.

Tony had specifically extended the Tower’s dock to accommodate the spaceship.He’d groused that the aesthetically pleasing building was now lopsided, but he’d gone through with the project anyway.Carol chose _there_ to spend her time.She meticulously defrosted all the windows of the ship.Everyone else partied inside the parlor.

She actually hadn’t gone in the building once since their arrival.

“Thor stayed home but he sent us the good stuff.”Tony stood beneath the automated glass archway.Normal doors were too simple for him.In all fairness, there were probably days when his suit malfunctioned and he didn’t want to deal with handles or knobs.“Rogers claims it’s your favorite.”

“Take that shit off and I’ll come in,” she said, pointing to the plastic mistletoe above his head.

“When it gets you this hot and bothered?Hell no.”

Someone, no one was naming names, had attached the stupid plant to every entryway.Even if Carol started at ground level and took the elevator, that entrance to the living area still had one.

She’d never felt so awkward as the moment Rhodey drunkenly ambushed her.He’d barely missed her cheek and ended up tripping over Rocket.Nebula had immediately assumed the two of them were lovers.Steve had abruptly rushed over and corrected the misunderstanding.

Then Nebula, curious of the tradition, had kissed him square on the mouth.

Natasha had laughed so hard she’d spilled her drink; Tony, who was as drunk as Rhodey, had whooped in joy.Steve had stood there dumbfounded.And Carol, she’d retreated back into the ship with an excuse of grabbing gifts.

Long after the commotion had settled, she’d placed the presents by the doorway and ignored anyone who tried convincing her to come in.

At one point Steve had waited patiently, coaxing Carol within an arm’s length of giving in. 

Then Rocket had interrupted, “What?You don’t like sloppy seconds?”

Tony had been the only one to try since.“Have it your way,” he said, jumping up to grab the decoration.He couldn’t reach it, but Carol blasted it with her powers now that she had permission.The melted plastic dripped in a black blob onto the marble.“I hope you know, I didn’t set those up.”He swooped around and resumed his job as bartender.

Dressed like an elf, Natasha sat next to the twelve foot Christmas tree.She waved Carol over.“Finally.”Then she leant in and whispered, “Sorry the plan backfired.”

“God, it was you?Why the hell would you do that to me?”She flicked an ornament and watched it bob.

“Wasn’t my idea, but I did have to mount all the damn things”

“What a waste.”Carol searched the room for the only person who could convince Natasha to do something so ridiculous.He was leaning against the bar, laughing about something with Tony.Steve was wearing a tan, buttery leather jacket, even though the room was warm.The seams pulled taut when he reached for his glass.He tapped his toe against the foot rail. By the time she’d glanced up from his feet to his head, he’d turned around.Having felt her eyes on him, he gave her a close-mouthed smile.

“It’s too late.You can’t go back,” she said, more to herself than Natasha.

“It’s never too late. _Wanting_ things is what life’s about.Keeping hope alive and crap like that.When you have nothing to look forward too, that’s when you’re done for.”

“Then what do you look forward to?” Carol asked, tugging the bell at the end of the elf hat.

“Taking off this stupid outfit.Boss said this was a costume party.”

Carol laughed, took the hat, and placed it on her own head.

* * *

It was five minutes to midnight.Snow had fallen in Mother Nature’s last ditch effort for a white Christmas.Carol stood at Steve’s door, soaking wet.

She held her knuckles up, ready to rap on the surface.Instead, she chickened out and sent a text message.His phone beeped within the apartment.The next sounds were of items getting knocked over.The door swung inward.

Steve stood before her, bleary eyed, hair mussed, pajamas askew.He flinched when something dripped on his nose.

“Had to fly all the way to Jersey.Luckily it grows on the tops of trees.Otherwise, I would’ve been out of luck.”

A clump of mistletoe hung from the frame.Melted snow dripped to the floor.Feathers floated down from when it’d been used as a nest.Steve plucked one from her hair.

“You know, the tradition dates back to Thor’s mother,” he said.“It’s meant to express love, but you’re supposed to hold a truce when you pass beneath it.”

“A Christmas Truce,” she said, running her hand up his neck and along his jaw.“One day only.”

“Some cultures even believe that kissing beneath the mistletoe creates a permanent bond.” His arms slipped around her waist.

“My well wishes to you and Nebula.”

“That one was plastic.”

“We have four minutes left.” She glanced up at him and his eyes gleamed the beautiful way they always did.“Don’t know if I believe in reincarnation or alternate realties.But I’ve seen enough shit to know anything is possible.So even if it’s too late for us, if there is some way, somehow... kiss me.Please let this little piece of magic work.”

When he kissed her, it was nothing like before.He was all hands, tongue, and even a bit of teeth.The hesitation he’d presented her with years ago was absent.He’d had practice.They stumbled into his apartment, clumsily untucking each other’s clothing.Then he paused to shyly look down at her.He hadn’t had _that_ much practice.

“You’re kidding, right?” She snorted and then snapped her hand over her mouth in embarrassment at the awful sound.

He resumed kissing her,but slowly this time.

“I promise to be gentle,” she whispered into his ear.

Alarms began blaring.F.R.I.D.A.Y. announced that Scott Lang, despite his apparent death, had arrived.

Figured.Avengers had to go full Team-mode again.

* * *

_Delta_ _2023_

Snow blanketed the cabin’s clearing, but that didn’t stop Carol from choosing to remain outside.One at a time, she chopped her way through the log pile.They already had enough firewood to last them the month, but company made her testy.The house was full on an ordinary day, but it was practically bursting at the seams for the holidays.Whoever designated that Christmas and New Years fall only seven days apart was a sadist.

The sound of the metal splitting wood was interrupted by the creaking of a storm door.Carol stopped working and leaned on the ax like a cane.

“You doing alright out here?” Steve asked.

He plodded clumsily through the knee-deep snow toward her.It would have been easy enough for him to glide effortlessly, but with each lumbering step the toddler strapped to his chest would laugh.Wendy, as it turned out loved heights.Flying, being thrown in the air, zooming around like a plane, or simply dangling from a harness; she preferred being above the snow rather than in it.This also meant that instead of snuggling against her father in a traditional sling-contraption, she liked to face front.The result was Steve constantly looking like a kangaroo.Today, he was overly bundled in winter gear and carrying a miniature snowsuit that happened to have two eyes.

“Yeah, I needed a break.”

“Sun’s gonna set soon.”A coyote began yipping in the distance, as if proving Steve’s point.“Wanda’s almost done with the ham, and Laura’s kids are setting the table.Mostly.Nathaniel’s panicking that if we don’t all go to bed immediately, Santa’s not going to show up.”He paused, and added an aside to his daughter.“Don’t worry.He’ll definitely come.”

Wendy seemed non-plussed by the information, and chose to focus on the glint coming off the ax.Carol grinned, lifted the tool, and then launched it spinning through the air.It soared straight into an enormous pine in the distance.The tree exploded with a sound similar to shot gun.Cleaved cleanly in two, the halves fell against the trees next to them but not to the ground.

Wendy erupted ingiggles and struggled to clap her hands.All she accomplished was flailing her arms and making the shh-shh noise that waterproof fabrics made.

“If there was ever any doubt.She’s a hundred percent your kid.What have you and Wanda been teaching her?”

Wanda was the reason their house was full.The cabin only had two bedrooms.The master belonged to Steve and Carol.Wendy’s crib was shoved into the corner, because Wanda inhabited the other room.Their entire living arrangement fell more on necessity than function.

During the blip, no one cared who did what, where.Afterward, things were decidedly different.With the influx of humans, all of the old laws started wending themselves back in place.Suddenly, Wanda’s lack of American citizenship became an issue.Steve, ready to fix anything he could, had offered her a job as an au pair.Technically it was only for legal reasons.He didn’t care what she actually did, but she took her position seriously.

Carol found herself in a similar situation.As it stood, ‘Carol Danvers’ and ‘Captain Marvel’ were different people.Plus she didn’t exactly have proof that she was born in the States.But, ‘Captain Marvel’ had legally married ‘Captain America’ in a big, showy, patriotic ceremony in 2021.They’d both worn their respective dress uniforms.With the lingering photos and videos, no one could deny her residency.

Still.If anyone questioned her position, it was her.Since the day she’d arrived, Steve had always pointed out they weren’t married.Whenever they were home or with friends who knew the truth, he’d slip off his wedding band.

He loved her; she could tell that much.But sometimes.He. Confounded. Her.

“Only the important stuff,” she eventually answered him.“Give me a minute, and then I’ll haul this inside.”

“Not too long, ok?” he said, before trodding up to her.Angling his body outward, so as not to squish their child, he quickly smooched Carol.

“Who needs a fire, if there’s more where that came from.”She grabbed the earflaps of his hat and pulled him in for another kiss.

* * *

Carol awoke in the middle of the night.Immediately she stuck her arm out, but only found bedding.She clawed fruitlessly at the space beside her in a panic.When she leaned in the other direction she looked toward the crib.In her blurry-sleep vision, she saw Wendy snuggling a stuffy that resembled Goose.The kid was there, but Steve was gone.

After nearly a century alone, it had only taken her weeks to become dependent on his presence.Like a safety blanket, she’d gnawed on the collar of his pajamas in her sleep.His clothes were always stretched in the morning from where she’d held him close in a vice grip.Everyday that he was with her, was a reminder of a day that he hadn’t been.

Over time, he’d given up wearing anything other than underwear to bed.With nothing to cling to, she’d soothed herself by pressing against his warmth.His heat alone became enough of a reminder that he was alive.The nightmares passed, and they both began getting restful sleep.

So the fact that he was absent, had terrified her.Her phone beeped in her nightstand, alerting her to the actual reason she must have woken up.She slipped it out of the drawer and read the text message.

* * *

Dressed in her festive pajamas, she clipped the baby monitor to her pants and made her way outside.Carol had to silently sneak past Wanda’s room, which was occupied by the Bartons, scoot around the couch, where Bucky snored loudly, and hop over Wanda and Sam, who were stretched out on the floor.When he rolled over, his knee swiped the tree and caused the little bell ornaments to jingle.Bucky snored louder, giving Carol an opening to exit via the creaky door.

When she got outside, she could see the lights in the hangar were on.Just like his text had implied, Steve was waiting for her outside.Instead of bothering with snow boots, Carol flew to the outbuilding barefoot.The door swung open upon her approach, and she hovered in the doorway.

“I’ve been waiting for you,” Steve said with a smile.Even with a kerosene heater lit, he was still dressed in a snowsuit, hat, boots, and gloves.

“Not as long as I have.”

Carol began pulsing heat from her body until the space around them was a comfortable temperature.The snow within a meter radius liquified.Steve stripped down into his equally dorky Christmas pajamas.Something dripped onto his face.Above them, tacked to the frame, was a bundle of mistletoe.The leaves were fresh, the berries white, and the ends hastily ripped from a tree.

“Pulled it from the pine you took out today.” He waved his arm in a gesture mimicking throwing her ax.“I’m positive it’s a sign.”

“That I’m a parasite?” Carol responded playfully.

“No.That you’re perfect.”He wiped a droplet of water from her cheek.“Give me a second.”He took in several long, deep breaths.“I’m prepared, but I’ll never not be nervous for shit like this.Oh shit.I didn’t mean to say shit.Because then the only thing you’ll remember is me saying shit over and over again.Goddamnit now I can’t stop.”

Carol found herself quirking an eyebrow.She couldn’t tell what he was planning.“Would it help if I said shit too?”

Steve laughed, low and full from within his belly.“Probably make it worse.I’m trying to be serious here.”

“We’re in our hangar, in pajamas, in the middle of the night.How serious can you get?” 

“This was supposed to be meaningful and romantic...and now it just sounds stupid.”

Finally, Carol touched down.Her toes sank into the mud, and she was instantly shorter than him.The height difference reminded her of just how much bigger he was than her.Yet, she was always safe with him.“I’m sorry.Continue,” she said, smothering a giggle.

“Ok.I think I’m ready.”He cleared his throat.“In the beginning I kept worrying that we’d made a mistake.Because it’s clear that in every way that you are _you_ , you aren’t the Carol I married.You say jokes that aren’t funny.Or sometimes I’ll say something and you’ll look at me like I’m from a different planet.Which, granted, I’m used to.But I never expected from you.”

Carol felt her heart sinking straight into her stomach.Acid gurgled upward in its place.She almost bolted, but Steve slipped his hand into hers.

“On our last Christmas together, _she_ told me something.In a way, I’m sure she knew that one of us wasn’t going to make it again.So she told me about how she and the Steve from her timeline made a promise.What a way to make someone feel like shit.Having to hear about how the person you love most was so desperately in love with someone else.”He squeezed her hand again.“But I get it now.This was never about them.Or me. Or her.Or any of that.”Lifting their entwined hands, he brushed her knuckles to his cheek.“The entire time... It was about us.Me and you.Everything was so that we could be together.I love you.And the more I get to know you, the more sure I am of how deeply I feel.So if this actually worked,” he said, pointing his index finger toward the mistletoe overhead.“Then this is where it needs to happen.Because I refuse to lose you.Carol Danvers, will you marry me?”

“You want...to marry me?Then why the hell do you keep taking off your ring, dipshit?”She tried to glare at him, but her face seemed set in a permanent smile.

“I thought it made you uncomfortable.”He looped a hand over her waist.The pads of his fingers grazed the skin where the baby monitor sagged the elastic of her pants.

“Impossible.It’s proof that you’re finally mine.” She let go of him so that she could run her hands up the front of his shirt.When she reached his collar, she gripped it and pulled him close. “Did you know, that if a woman _refused_ a kiss, it implied she wasn’t ready for marriage?”

“Is that a yes?” he whispered against her lips.

“That’s a hell yes,” she answered, before kissing him beneath the mistletoe.

**Author's Note:**

> Whoo, trying to get this entire thing uploaded in a day was quite the ride.  
> Anyway, thanks for hangin’ in there with me
> 
> -R


End file.
